Biggest Sockeye Run EVER!

"If you want to see magic, come to Bristol Bay Alaska and you'll see magic. It's still here on Earth." - Ole Olson (The Wild documentary, August Island Pictures)

More than 63 million sockeye have returned to Bristol Bay this year, through July 20, making it the largest sockeye run since recordkeeping began in 1893! This breaks the previous record of 62.95 million fish set in 2018.

Large numbers can be hard to comprehend, so consider this: if lined up nose-to-tail this year’s Bristol Bay sockeye run would stretch on for roughly 20,000 miles, enough to encircle all the lower 48 states… twice! This is natural abundance on a truly epic scale.

In addition, the Nushagak district set a single day harvest record with 1.77 million sockeye caught on June 30, 2021. Incredibly, that record was broken the very next day with a harvest of 1.82 million sockeye. Hats off to all the fishermen who battled nasty weather, grueling hours, and sore bodies to make this another bountiful season in Bristol Bay.

It’s important to highlight just how special the Bristol Bay salmon resource is. These records aren’t being set while overfishing. All escapement goals were met to propagate strong future runs. And this natural bounty is happening now,! Despite all the bad news about environmental degradation and destruction, Bristol Bay is a shining example that healthy eco-systems can and still do still exist. It’s really an ecological treasure. We ask that state and federal government protect Bristol Bay salmon and the natural habitats that allow it to thrive.